1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pitching training tool or pitching practice apparatus for enabling mainly pitchers, infielders and outfielders to healthfully and comfortably acquire ideal throwing form when playing baseball.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, as a method for a baseball pitcher to cultivate this pitching form, there was a method, whereby a large quantity of balls, for example, several hundred balls, or even several thousand balls, were thrown.
However, with this method, because the weight of a regulation professional hardball used for throwing is, for example, approximately 140-142 grams (in the case of Japan), great stress is placed on the throwing arm, shoulder, elbow, and the joints thereof. For this reason, due to the above-mentioned rigorous throwing, there are cases where the shoulder degenerates, adversely affecting a pitching career.
Accordingly, there has also been known for some time now a method, in which, instead of using a hardball, shadow pitching is practiced by holding one end of an ordinary long and narrow towel for washing one""s face. According to this towel shadow pitching, since the towel is extremely light weight, the wear and tear on the throwing arm, shoulder, elbow, and joints thereof is also light, and there is practically no trouble that would shorten a pitching career.
However, with conventional towel shadow pitching such as mentioned above, because the towel is soft and has no rigidity, the towel hangs downwardly from the hand holding the towel and gets wrapped around the hand. Thus, the problem is that because the towel is held and swung around in accordance with an arbitrary pitching form, when the throwing arm is raised up to the top position of the pitching form, it is difficult to practice shadow pitching while being conscious of or checking whether or not the top position of the throwing arm and hand, for example, the elbow of the throwing arm, is in the prescribed position above the shoulder, or whether or not the wrist of the throwing arm is twisted toward the outside and the state thereof, or the path of the throwing hand and arm.
Further, the sound of the towel cutting through the air when the throwing arm is swung downward is not clearly communicated. For example, it is extremely difficult to readily distinguish by ear a change in the air-cutting sound of the towel in accordance with the swing speed at, for example, the ball release point or other such necessary checkpoint, thus providing a problem in that it is difficult to be conscious of the arm swing speed feel.
Therefore, the problem with pitching practice that uses this towel is that it is not very effective for either cultivating one""s own pitching form, or for acquiring a new pitching form while checking this form by oneself.
With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pitching training tool, which is constituted such that it is possible to easily and enjoyably master an ideal pitching form while readily checking one""s own pitching motion.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a pitching training tool, having a rod-shaped body portion, which has a hollow, cylindrical shaft portion that is lighter than a regulation ball, and a gripping portion, which is integrally formed to one end of the shaft portion; a detector, which is incorporated in the above-mentioned gripping portion side of the above-mentioned rod-shaped body portion, and which detects a state of motion when the rod-shaped body portion is being swung around; an arithmetic processing portion, which is disposed on the gripping portion side of the above-mentioned rod-shaped body portion, and which carries out computations based on motion state data from the above-mentioned detector; and a display, which is disposed on the gripping portion side of the above-mentioned rod-shaped body portion, and which displays the results of computations by the above-mentioned arithmetic processing portion.
Furthermore, in the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the above-mentioned detector is an acceleration sensor, and the above-mentioned arithmetic processing portion is a CPU (central processing unit) comprising means for detecting rotational frequency when the rod-shaped body portion is being swung around, and rotational speed detecting means for detecting rotational speed.
Further, the above-mentioned display is constituted so as to display at least one of a rotational speed, or a pitching speed computed on the basis of this rotational speed.
Further, there is incorporated, in the gripping portion side of the above-mentioned rod-shaped body portion, a sound device, which is constituted so as to be operationally connected to the above-mentioned computing means, and to output tonal sounds that differ in accordance with the speed level of the rotational speed.
Further, it is possible for the rotational frequency detector, the rotational speed detector, and the sound device to be regarded as a unit, and to be housed in a single casing.
Further, it is also possible for the display device to be housed together with the unit inside the casing.
Further, the shaft portion of the rod-shaped body portion can be formed having flexibility by using glass fiber, titanium, carbon and the like.
Further, on the gripping portion, It is possible to form a non-slip portion for preventing the gripping hand from slipping.
Further, on the outer end portion of the non-slip portion, it is also possible to form a grip end with a larger diameter than the non-slip portion thereof.
Furthermore, as for the gripping portion, it is also possible to provide either a spherical body of a larger diameter than the rod-shaped body portion, or a triangular-shaped body of a size greater than the length perpendicular to the axis of the rod-shaped body portion.
According to the disclosures of the above-mentioned present invention and the preferred embodiments thereof, when performing shadow pitching, whereby the gripping portion of the pitching training tool thereof is gripped by the throwing hand and swung around in accordance with an arbitrary pitching form, the pitching training tool feels just like a fourth joint contiguous with the three joints of the shoulder joint, elbow joint and wrist joint of the throwing arm.
Thus, shadow pitching can be performed while being conscious of the top position of the throwing arm and hand, the twisting of the wrist and the state thereof, and the path of the throwing arm and hand.
Further, because the flexible rod-shaped body generates a sharp air-cutting sound when the throwing arm is swung around, one can be conscious of the swing down speed of the arm by the level of the tone of the air-cutting sound thereof. Thus, it is possible to perform shadow pitching while being conscious of the speed at the pitch release point and other such strategic places. Furthermore, since the number of times the pitching training tool is swung is displayed on the display, it is also possible to confirm the number of times thereof.
Thus, since it is possible to readily check the quality of one""s own pitching motion or form, by repeating this shadow pitching, it is possible to readily cultivate a pitching form for one""s own pitching, or to easily acquire an arbitrary pitching form while revising one""s own pitching motion or form.
Moreover, because the overall weight of this pitching training tool is lighter than either a professional or amateur regulation hardball, it is possible to greatly reduce the stress placed on the throwing arm, shoulder, elbow, and the joints thereof. Thus, shadow pitching can be performed healthfully and comfortably without subjecting the throwing arm, shoulder, elbow, and joints thereof to wear and tear and without shortening a pitching career.
Further, in addition to reducing the stress placed on the throwing arm, shoulder, elbow, and the joints thereof, because a pitching motion is a total body movement, the present invention also has the effect of preventing stiffening of the shoulder and subacromial bursitis and can promote health.
Furthermore, because the rotational frequency detector and display are provided on the gripping portion side instead of being disposed at the tip portion side of the rod-shaped body, even if the end portion of the rod-shaped body should impact the ground or something when the pitching training tool is swung down, damage to the rotational frequency detector and display thereof can be prevented.
Further, the rotational speed when the pitching training tool is swung around in accordance with shadow pitching can be checked more accurately via the display than by distinguishing by ear the differences in the tone of the air-cutting sound made by the rod-shaped body. Further, since this rotational speed detector displays on the display the rotational speed detection value thereof as the pitching speed of a ball had the ball in question been thrown at the arm swing speed thereof, the enjoyment of shadow pitching can be increased.
Furthermore, apart from the air-cutting sound of the rod-shaped body, since a plurality of tonal sounds that differ in accordance with the rotational speed of the pitching training tool are outputted from the sound outputting device, by listening to the tones thereof while shadow pitching, it is possible to learn the swing speed of the rod-shaped body or the pitching speed more accurately than by the air-cutting sound.
Thus, since it is not necessary to stop shadow pitching part way through each time to look at the display showing the rotational speed of the pitching training tool, the effects of practice can be enhanced.
Further, since the length of the rod-shaped body of the pitching training tool can be appropriately adjusted in accordance with the size of a user""s body, especially his height, and the method of practice, a single pitching training tool can be used by a wide-range of individuals, from adults to children.
Further, slippage when a user grips the gripping portion of the pitching training tool can be prevented by a non-slip portion and a large-diameter end portion. Thus, since it is possible to prevent the pitching training tool from slipping out of the gripping hand when this pitching training tool is swung down, the safety of the surrounding area can be enhanced.
Furthermore, since the gripping portion of the pitching training tool comprises either a spherical body or an arbitrarily shaped body approximating a regulation hardball, it is possible to securely grip the gripping portion thereof in practically the same manner as a regulation hardball, while at the same time making it possible to prevent slippage.